Automated PH Control

[payn4school]

Hello all!

First I must say thanks for the great thread. I was saving for an itellidose but not anymore. In the ame of simplicity and efficiency I have decided to buy this controller:
(thanks mysticls)esp

Now I just need to figure out how I want to introduce the acid or base into the res. Why has no one mentioned a good old fashioned gravity solenoid? A peri peri, a pump is just one more thing that can break, and is expensive. I did some quick serching and couldt fid a good example of a good gravity fed dosing solenoid, but I know I have see them before.

The BL 981411 does not iclude a pump or solennnoid correct?


I am fighting with the nnnnnnn on my keyboard at the moment, if anyoe is wonderin why I seem to have the typing skills of a 3 year old.

Thanks again for all the innnfo guys!

peace

 

[Guest]

The BL 981411 does not iclude a pump or solennnoid correct?

Correct...it is only the minicontroller and you must buy a pH probe, dosing pump or dosing delivery method of some type that can be regulated by the minicontroller. If you use a Welco pump you must by a DC adapter but I would still go with the 120 VAC version of the minicontroller so you could also use a line voltage dosing pump down the road.

 

[BlindDate]

payn4....Gravity feed will work but you'll have to set it up as a drip. Like those hospital IV bags hanging at bedside. Also, a solinoid valve that can handle acid might cost the same as a peri pump.

 

[Guest]

For probes I initially said a 2114P/2 but that is incorrect. Get an HI1286 for about $45 retails, same one in the Nanny, or step up to the HI1006-2005 industrial flat tip probe for about $180 retail. It very rarely needs calibration and is pretty much self cleaning. Since it's the industrial version it can handle anything you can throw at it in the res.

 

[oldsmoker]

well I got mine working by adding 2 timers one short range which allows me to control
how many seconds my peri pump runs, and one which turns of the power to the socket controled by my ph meter which then allows an hour for my ph to get stable
before the pump can run again.
works great now and no need to deliver ph down on the probe

 

[DLA]

I was out running errands one of which was to get a money order to buy a Ph Nanny. I decided to stop by the Hydro STore was shooting the shit with the owner about them. He said he just ordered in an Auto Ph doser by American. It's new ordered for a customer that didn't come back.

He charged me $200.00 cash.

I think this will work OK.

 

[payn4school]

I think you hot a hell of a deal, I dont even see that model on the web site yet.. I wonder what they will cost? 200 has to be wholesale price. Is that a two part doser? And are there pumps built into the box?

payn

 

[BlindDate]

No offense DLJ, but that thing is a joke. I've seen them in Hydro shops. They use gravity feed and solinoids. You will also have to dilute your solution since it dumps rather than pumps.

Good Luck!

 

[payn4school]

Dammit I want one for 200 bucks!! I bet it will work just fine. Do you have a name a number for that hydro store? Maybe I will call and see how much I can get one shipped to me for.

Exciting times!

 

[spiralsmurf]

just ordered a hanna controller and i managed to get a free sample pump from welco that's on the way. will post results when finished.

 

[spiralsmurf]

also i already had the 1286 probe from my hanna grocheck

 

[spiralsmurf]

also someone posted earlier that the milwaukee sms122 is only accurate to +/- 0.2pH, but the hanna unit is also equally accurate. unless you step up to the 0.01 accuracy i think you're gonna get 0.2 across the board for most decently priced pH meters. the 0.01 hanna unit is like 170, instead of 120 so if someone really wants it, it's there.

 

[Grownz]

Keep us updated spiralsmurf! Good luck!

 

[Tomatoesonly]

Does anyone here have problems with pumps and other electrical devices messing with the meters?
I have a krypto controller bucket setup, and when things start activating, I can watch the PH meter go nuts.
I can't imagine this working very well with the PH nanny.

I need to add this is a 9V ph monitor, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[HarryNugz]

OK, I just had to chime in. Some of the posters up to page 3 are the laziest and stupidest morons I've seen to date! All you had to do was type in PH Nanny into the search engine of choice and follow the correct link and there you are. Instead you stupid fuck's rag on Uncle Bob until he provides a link for you.

Thanks Uncle Bob for a very informative thread! If cost isn't an issue then this item seems perfect.

 

[cabanetforester]

Perfect.

Perfect.

Just the thread I was looking for. Thanks to Uncle bob and the others for sharing.

I'm going to bulid a recirc DWC and using one of these dosers to control ph looks like a perfect solution-no pun intended.

Also great info on the pump comparisons. I just found the Automated Aquariums site the other day and was seriously considering one of those units.

Well, before I bought the PH Nanny I looked at other units including the one from Automated Aquariums and they were all doing the same thing, just not nearly as nice. The Automated Aquariums unit used a real crappy cheapo pump, no switches, no BNC output for the probe, etc. Then, being a do-it-yourselfer I thought about making my own and saving some money, but like I said, after adding it all up the price was the same and then I would have some ghetto looking breadboard system.

I'm happy with it and after using the thing for several months I would never go back to manual ph adjustments. Being able to keep ph levels at an exact number all the time lends a great opportunity for comparison. I plan to try different levels on each grow. For now it's 5.5 but on my next grow I'm going down to 5.2 (that is what Lucas recommends).

Now I am definatley leaning toward the nanny or possibly DIY. After seeing the pumps offered at Automated Aquariums I Considered researching alternatives and probably would have in the end, but this is great info save's me much searching around.

I could probably come up with a couple reasons why I should DIY.

Honestly though, $400.00 is affordable for what it does IMO(sure cheaper would be better maybe I'll shop around.) I have plenty of other exapmles of DIY in my garden and always will, sometimes I just need something that gets the job done, is reliable and comes with a warranty.Prototyping and DIY can be a lot of fun and I usually end up leaning the DIY route, It's just too easy anymore for to have too many DIY projects going.

Again, think the thread is great. As these type of things become more common maybe there will be an automated control's type section in the forums or if someone did one of those nice tutorial's maybe it could be stickied. Maybe Blazeoneup want's to incorporate one of these. Peace, CF.

 

[BlindDate]

I've been procrastinating for a long time, but has anyone other than "Uncle Bob" used one (PH nanny)? They sell them at Better Grow now and I'm still considering.

 

[srah]

the scary thing is if the probe goes bad and dumps the whole bottle of ph down in your rez. there'd have to be a maintenance schedule on the probe, or a 'sanity' limit on the pump time.

 

[Guest]

All you had to do was type in PH Nanny into the search engine of choice and follow the correct link and there you are.

Hey dumbshit...a few months back when you Googled pH Nanny you got NOTHING useable for a link.

A Hanna controller, Hanna probe and the newer style APT pump is all you need. The Nanny is great for those with extra cash to burn who can't put a few wires together. Welco's are awesome and if you know how to work it you can get a few for FREE .

 

[Guest]

the scary thing is if the probe goes bad

Just pay up for an industrial probe from Hanna. They are basically self cleaning and require calibration maybe every 6 months or so if that and last a hella lot longer than the crap probe the Nanny comes with. The probe supplied with the Nanny is one of Hanna's cheapest.

or a 'sanity' limit on the pump time

The Hanna mini controller does have an adjustable max run time feature. As for probes going bad...shit always happens so just pay attention to your grow. Get good equipment and let it do the work for you so you just oversee and manage it. Use a pump with a minimal flow rate to just tweak things when needed.

I looked hard at some type of automated pH control but once I got my nute strength dialed in properly with the water I have access to out of the tap I can now go through half a res over a 4-5 day period and the pH barely moves and the EC is also very steady.